Whip device

ABSTRACT

The whip includes a shaft of a fiber glass construction having a handle section and an outer end section including a terminal portion. A tubular braided polyethylene cover includes a pair of end sections and an intermediate section integrally formed with a knot unit. The knot unit includes an outer tubular body portion and a pair of inner tubular portions connected to corresponding ends of the outer body portion and constituting extensions of the cover end sections. The pair of inner portions are in a side-byside relation within the outer body portion and project in opposite directions from the outer body portion. The shaft is inserted within one of the cover end sections with the shaft terminal portion projected within the inner tubular portion corresponding thereto. The terminal portion is thus enclosed by a double thickness of the braided cover to prevent the free end thereof from protruding outwardly through the cover.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Gary G. Henry 4417 Wellington Ave.. Sioux City, Iowa 51106 [21 App] No 19.210 [22] Filed Mar. 13. 1970 [45] Patented Nov. 30. 1971 [54] WHIP DEVICE 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs. [52] US. Cl. 231/2 R. 54/24 [51] Int. Cl..., B681) 11/00 [50] Field oiSearch 231/2; 54/24 [56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 3,356,294 12/1967 Henry 1. .v 231/2 R 3,136,480 6/1964 O'Neill 231/2 R 703,397 7/1902 Felker 231/2 R 3,407,568 10/1968 Henry 54/24 4/1892 Couse 9/1966 Henry ABSTRACT: The whip includes a shaft of a fiber glass construction having a handle section and an outer end section in cluding a terminal portion A tubular braided polyethylene cover includes a pair of end sections and an intermediate sec tion integrally formed with a knot unit The knot unit includes an outer tubular body portion and a pair of inner tubular por tions connected to corresponding ends of the outer body portion and constituting extensions ofthe cover end sections The pair of inner portions are in u side-by-side relation within the outer body portion and project in opposite directions from the outer body portion The shaft is inserted within one of the cover end sections with the shaft terminal portion projected within the inner tubular portion corresponding thereto The terminal portion is thus enclosed by a double thickness of the braided cover to prevent the free end thereof from protruding outwardly through the cover.

PATENTEDNUV 30 I871 l/v VENTOQ. G 4 R r GHENI? Y WHIP DEVICE SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The whip is of a simple, compact and rugged construction so as to withstand conditions of severe weather and use over an extended period of time. The novel knot unit fonned in the braided polyethylene cover provides a shield or guard of a double cover thickness about the outer terminal portion of the fiber glass shaft so as to substantially prevent the free end of the shaft from penetrating through the braided cover to the exterior thereof. To complement the shielding action of the knot unit, the terminal portion of the shaft may be secured to the knot portions of the cover by a bonding material. Since the cover per se is used to form the knot unit, only a single length of the tubular cover is utilized in the construction of the whip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a foreshortened side view of the whip of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the handle end ofthe whip;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing the cover parts of the knot unit in their relative positions just prior to the knot unit being tightened;

FIG. 4 is illustrated in diagrammatic form similar to FIG. 3 to more clearly show the relative arrangement of the cover parts in the knob unit;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the whip in the vicinity of the knot unit showing the shielding of the terminal portion of the shaft by the knot unit; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken on line 6-6 in FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the whip of this invention, indicated generally at 10, has a central flexible shaft 11 made of a reinforced plastic material or the like such as a polyester resin filled with glass fibers or filaments and commonly referred to as fiberglass. Shaft 11 is of a tapered construction from a larger diameter at its handle end 12 (FIG. 2) to a smaller diameter at its outer end 13 (FIG. 5) which includes a terminal portion 14. This taper contributes to the flexibility of the shaft in use.

The shaft 11 is covered or encased by one end section 16 of a tubular cover 17 made of a braided polyethylene material. The cover section I6 at the shaft handle end 12 is covered by an adhesively taped hand grip 18 of a rubber or plastic material.

The braided cover 17 (FIG. 1) is of one piece over its entire length and includes the handle end section 16, a tip or outer end section 21 and an intermediate section 22. The outer end section 21, usually referred to as the drop section of the whip, carries at its free end a popper member 23 of a braided nylon material.

Although the braided polyethylene cover 17 has distinctive advantages such as resistance to moisture, deterioration, weather conditions and livestock dirt, it has the objection of being rather easily penetrated by the free end of the terminal portion 14 of the shaft 11. This penetration results from the relative movement between the terminal portion 14 and the adjacent portions of the cover 17 as the whip I0 is manipulated or flexed in use.

In order to overcome this objection the intermediate section 22 of the cover 17 is formed into a knot unit 24 which, as best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, includes a tubular outer body member 26 having longitudinally arranged therein in a side-by-side relation a pair of inner tubular members 27 and 28, which constitute extensions of the cover end sections 16 and 21, respectively. The knot unit 24 is formed by initially inserting theterminal end of the cover end section 16 (FIG. 4) between braids for entry at 31 into the forward or upper end of the outer body member 26 and then pushing such terminal end LII rearwardly or downwardly through the body member 26 for exit at 33.

In a like manner the free end of the cover section 21 is inserted at 36 between braids at the rear or lower end of the body member 26 and is projected forwardly therethrough in a side-by-side relation with the inner member 27 for exit at 37 at the forward end of the outer body member 26. The end sections 16 and 21 are then manually grasped and pulled in opposite directions relative to the outer body member 26 until they are drawn taught so as to tighten the knot unit 24.

In one embodiment of the invention the braided cover 17 has an initial outer diameter of about a fourth of an inch and a braid diameter of about three-thirty seconds of an inch. The entries 31 and 36 and the exits 33 and 37, both respectively, are spaced about eight braids apart. In this embodiment, when the knot unit 24 is completely tightened it is about 1 inch long with an outer diameter of about one-half inch so as to appear substantially as shown in FIG. 5.

It will be understood that the cover 17 is of a predetermined initial length and that the knot unit 24 is formed therein at a preselected location so that the cover end section 16 is of a length to receive the shaft 11, and the cover end section 21 is of a length to provide an efficient whip action on the popper member 23.

On completion of the knot unit 24, the shaft 11 at the small or outer end thereof is inserted its full length into the cover end section 16 with the outer terminal portion 14, as best shown in FIG. 4, extended within the inner member 27 of the knot unit 24 so as to be located within the outer body member 26. When thus located (FIG. 6) it is seen that the shaft terminal portion 14 is encased or shielded by at least a double thickness of the cover 17.

It is also to be noted that the outer body member 26 (FIG. 5) has the braid thereof compressed or compacted longitudinally of the shaft 11 by the drawing action On the cover end sections 16 and 21 in the tightening of the knot unit 24.

This encasing of the shaft terminal portion 14 within the knot unit 24 prevents the free end of the shaft 11 from protruding through the cover over a prolonged service life of the whip 10.

This protruding, as mentioned above, results essentially from the relative movement between the shaft terminal portion 14 and the braided cover 17 during a whipping action of the whip 10. Prevention of such relative movement thus appreciably extends the service life of the whip. To complement the encasement of the shaft terminal portion 14 by a compacted double thickness of the cover 17 the cover portion immediately surrounding the shaft within the knot unit 24 and for a length of several inches below or rearwardly of the knot unit 24 is treated by spraying or brushing thereon a thermo plastic material combined with an epoxy such as that commercially available under the trademark Epoxy-Versamid. This mixture functions as a solvent relative to the fiberglass shaft and polyethylene braided cover 17 to form a bond, indicated at 38 in FIGS. 5 and 6, which rigidly secures the adjacent portions of the shaft 11 and cover 17.

The combination of the bond 38 and knot unit 24 practically eliminates any penetration of the shaft terminal end from the cover 17 over a long service life of hard use under adverse conditions. However, it is to be understood that such combination is not required and that the bond 38 or the knot unit 24 can be separately used to provide a whip of a quality construction having a high resistance against penetration of the shaft terminal portion 14 through the cover 17.

I claim:

I. A whip comprising:

an elongated shaft having a handle end and an outer end including a terminal end portion,

b. a tubular cover for said shaft integrally formed intermediate the ends thereof with a knot means wherein said cover has end sections extended outwardly in opposite directions from an intermediate section thereof,

c. said handle end and outer end received within one of said end sections with said terminal end portion extended into said intermediate section whereby said terminal end portion is surrounded by a double thickness of said cover, and

d. a popper member secured to the free end of the other one of said end sections.

2. A whip comprising:

a. an elongated shaft having a handle end and an outer end including a terminal end portion, and

b. a braided tubular cover having a first section, a second section, and a third section, said second and third sections reversely projected longitudinally through said first section, and extended outwardly from opposite ends of said first section,

. the handle end and outer end of said shaft received within said second cover section with said terminal end portion located within said first section, whereby said first and second sections from a double thickness of said cover about said terminal end portion, and

d. a popper element secured to the free end of said third section.

3. A whip comprising:

a. an elongated shaft having a handle and an outer end including a terminal end portion,

b. a tubular braided cover,

or a knot means integrally formed as a part of said cover including an intermediate section and a pair of end sections reversely projected through said intermediate section and extended from the opposite ends thereof,

d. said handle end and outer end received within one of said end sections with said terminal end portion extended within said intermediate section whereby said terminal end portion is surrounded by a double thickness of said cover, and

e. a popper element secured to the free end of the other one of said end sections. 

1. A whip comprising: a. an elongated shaft having a handle end and an outer end including a terminal end portion, b. a tubular cover for said shaft integrally formed intermediate the ends thereof with a knot means wherein said cover has end sections extended outwardly in opposite directions from an intermediate section thereof, c. said handle end and outer end received within one of said end sections with said terminal end portion extended into said intermediate section whereby said terminal end portion is surrounded by a double thickness of said cover, and d. a popper member secured to the free end of the other one of said end sections.
 2. A whip comprising: a. an elongated shaft having a handle end and an outer end including a terminal end portion, and b. a braided tubular cover having a first section, a second section, and a third section, said second and third sections reversely projected longitudinally through said first section, and extended outwardly from opposite ends of said first section, c. the handle end and outer end of said shaft received within said second cover section with said terminal end portion located within said first section, whereby said first and second sections from a double thickness of said cover about said terminal end portion, and d. a popper element secured to the free end of said third section.
 3. A whip comprising: a. an elongated shaft having a handle and an outer end including a terminal end portion, b. a tubular braided cover, c. a knot means integrally formed as a part of said cover including an intermediate section and a pair of end sections reversely projected through said intermediate section and extended from the opposite ends thereof, d. said handle end and outer end received within one of said end sections with said terminal end portion extended within said intermediate section whereby said terminal end portion is surrounded by a double thickness of said cover, and e. a popper element secured to the free end of the other one of said end sections. 